The present invention relates to towing devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to mountable, swiveling and adjustable towbars for use with small and light aircraft.
Private and commercial aircraft owners who utilize small or light aircraft are faced with a dilemma: the aircraft must be maneuvered on the ground. This must be accomplished safely and efficiently. However, cost and manpower restraints result in such small or light aircraft owners having to rely upon little or no assistance and without the ability to use or purchase the large, expensive aircraft tows that are employed by commercial and private owners of large aircraft. Often, the private owner of an aircraft must handle the aircraft on the ground without any assistance which can limit the owner's ability to move and store the aircraft. Even relatively very small single- or twin-engine private aircraft can require a significant towing or moving force just to move the aircraft into or out of a hanger or other protected area. In addition, in the event the aircraft has mechanical or other issues which require maintenance or repairs, often the aircraft must be moved to a location where such maintenance or repairs can be affected. In all of these instances, the aircraft owner or operator is significantly limited in the towing and moving resources that are available to him.
While the current art contains hand operated towing devices, including devices that operate using gas engines and the like, such solutions require keeping the separate equipment that is not dual-purpose.
It is common practice for small commercial and private aircraft owners to use small vehicles such as golf carts or utility carts to move people, equipment, supplies, and the like at airports. Given the nature of airport operations and the size of even smaller local or regional airports, often the distances needed to be traveled while at the airport can be cumbersome or simply too far to travel on foot. Especially when moving people with disabilities, luggage, goods and equipment, and the like.
Various types of towing apparatus exists for small aircraft. Towing apparatus has been designed for use with private vehicles, such as the Universal Tow Bar taught by Jopson et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,181,893. Other such designs include the Improved Towing Apparatus taught by Soles in U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,310, and Tow Bar for Aircraft taught by Eichstadt in U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,429.
The currently available designs for small or light aircraft have several drawbacks, however. First, many of them are complicated and/or require a specialized vehicle to be operated. Such complexity or the requirement of a specialized vehicle simply adds to the cost and the inaccessibility of such devices to the average small or light aircraft owner. Other current designs for aircraft tow bars attempt to make them universal to any type of vehicle and aircraft, and provide for a towing apparatus that is switched between aircraft and potential towing vehicles. Among other drawbacks to this approach is that such designs are independent of the aircraft or other vehicles already in place and in use by the aircraft owner. Which means that the towing apparatus becomes one more piece of equipment to store, maintain, and keep track of.
What is needed, therefore, is a towing apparatus that takes into account the realities of the limitations and day-to-day needs of the small or light aircraft owner. Such a towing apparatus should be designed so that the towing apparatus utilizes resources already at hand or readily and cheaply available to the aircraft owner. The new towing apparatus should be fairly inexpensive, and allow a small or light aircraft owner to utilize resources already on hand or readily and inexpensively available to not only move aircraft as needed, but to do so with minimal or no assistance.